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Tim Kawakami

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American sports journalist

Tim Kawakami is an American sports journalist for The San Francisco Standard. Previously, he was a sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. In addition to his print column, he maintained a blog, communicated on Twitter, and had a podcast series. He was named the California Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 2013. In 2017, he joined The Athletic, a subscription-based, sports journalism website, becoming the editor-in-chief for its San Francisco Bay Area edition.

Early life

Kawakami was born in Oakland, California, and later moved to San Francisco and Burlingame. His grandfather owned The New World-Sun, a Japanese-language newspaper in San Francisco. Kawakami attended Northwestern University, where he got his start in sportswriting with The Daily Northwestern.

Career

Kawakami interned at the Philadelphia Daily News, and became their beat writer for the Philadelphia Eagles in the late 1980s. He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1990 and covered the Los Angeles Rams before moving to boxing in 1993. While continuing to cover boxing, he began covering UCLA Bruins men's basketball in their national title season in 1994–95. He became the beat writer for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1998–99, covering the basketball team through the Shaquille O'Neal–Kobe Bryant era. Kawakami was interested in becoming a columnist, but the Times filled their opening with T. J. Simers. Kawakami left for the San Jose Mercury News in the mid-2000s, writing a Page 2 column and later a regular column.

Kawakami started his "Talking Points" blog in 2006. He once said, "I love the energy of the blog world", which The Big Lead called a rarity for a mainstream media member in 2009. He also started using Twitter in 2009, and developed a reputation for blocking users from seeing his posts for offenses such as telling him what to do, making racist comments, or laughing at him (e.g. "LOL"). He began a podcast series, “The TK Show”, in 2015, when he also began a recurring segment with Ray Ratto called "But Seriously" on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area's Yahoo SportsTalk Live.

Kawakami left The Mercury in July 2017 to become the editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Bay Area edition of The Athletic. He joined The San Francisco Standard on September 13, 2024, together with fellow Athletic journalist David Lombardi. Kawakami said his departure stemmed from a desire to prioritize local sports coverage, a focus he felt was shifting at The Athletic in favor of a broader, national perspective.

SFGate wrote that Bay Area media circles generally considered him to be "credible, fair, and tenacious".

References

  1. "Bio". San Jose Mercury News.
  2. "Tim Kawakami is California Sportswriter of the Year". Inside Bay Area. January 10, 2013. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013.
  3. "Tim Kawakami and David Lombardi join The Standard to launch sports coverage". The San Francisco Standard. September 13, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  4. Quon, Kasey (April 20, 2015). "Sportswriter Tim Kawakami is the guy who asks the hard questions". Peninsula Press. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Quon, Casey (April 20, 2015). "Asks hard Sports Questions". Peninsula Times.
  6. ^ McIntyre, Jason (April 24, 2009). "A Q&A with San Jose Mercury News Columnist Tim Kawakami". The Big Lead. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015.
  7. ^ Cruz, Jay Dela (May 31, 2015). "Comcast SportsNet Announces Yahoo SportsTalk Live: "But Seriously," Special Segment Delves Deep Into Critical Issues On and Off the Field". CSNBayArea.com. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015.
  8. Terdiman, Daniel (June 6, 2016). "Blocked Shots: How Sportswriter Tim Kawakami Dominates Twitter". Fast Company. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018.
  9. Edwards, Konata (August 1, 2017). "The Athletic's New Verticals Have Picked Up Some Big Names In Sportswriting". Uproxx. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017.
  10. Simon, Alex (September 13, 2024). "Major Bay Area sports media shakeup begins as startup poaches top columnist". SFGate. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  11. Grant, Michael (October 9, 2024). "Tim Kawakami explains why he left The Athletic for The San Francisco Standard". Awful Announcing. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  12. Lieberman, Rich (June 1, 2009). "KNBR/ Fitzgerald's 'Silence' about W's "Anon Posts"–Won't take calls on Subject". SFGate. Archived from the original on May 15, 2013.

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